Carry on Camping…

We’ve been very fortunate to have had a campervan for the last 7 years. Being a family of 5 with 3 children and a dog, it’s enabled us to have some memorable holidays all over Europe as well as in the UK (I wrote a little about it in one of my very first blog posts… https://coastalcrochet.com/2015/06/23/campervan-crochet/ )

But when we got it 7 years ago the children were A LOT smaller. Oh how they’ve grown and at the start of the camping season last year we realised that we’d actually outgrown our beloved camper 😦 … so what to do?! How could we carry on camping?!

Well…

We could sell the campervan and put an end to our camping days putting the money towards other types of holiday. The children weren’t keen on this idea!

Get an awning or use pop up tents. This is obviously the cheapest option and what many people do. We have already used pop up tents with the children sleeping next to the van but it does mean that there’s a lot more to carry and store in the van when we drive between places (it’s already quite cramped with us all in there!). We like to tour in our van and putting an awning up and down each time we move on is not my idea of fun…so I wasn’t keen on this idea!

Get a little trailer that provides extra sleeping space as well as extra storage. There are so many of these sweet little teardrop style caravans/ trailers available at varying costs and with a variety of specifications. We simply wanted the extra space and didn’t need it to have any cooking facilities or electricity, just something very basic. After searching high and low online, we came across the ‘Snibston Trailer’ from Trailus which ticked all our boxes and this is the option we went for!

It was fabulous and really made a difference. We can definitely carry on camping now we have this set up…

Of course, being me and having a sweet blank canvas like this little trailer before me, I felt compelled to make it even prettier and it’s also something I can crochet for! Yay!!

We started by fitting a foam layer to make it really comfortable for sleeping in and I covered this foam with some Ikea fabric (I always love Ikea for fabric)…

Then I thought that the internal windows could do with some decorative framing and that’s where the mini-bunting I made a few months ago now hangs…

And of course a crocheted blanket seemed essential…

I chose these colours in response to my two boys request. They wouldn’t let me crochet a blanket for the trailer in ‘girlie’ colours! I’ve always tried to avoid stereotyping colours and will happily see men wearing pink or any other colour combination they choose but somehow my boys, being the age they are, were insistent that I didn’t use any pink! I think these primary colours of red, blue, yellow with green actually work so well and match the colour of the trailer perfectly… so on this occasion- well done boys 😉 !

There’s lots more I could crochet for the trailer… there’s a spare wheel that I could crochet a cover for and of course some crochet cushions but as always there’s not enough hours in the day! We’re just happy to have this trailer with the extra sleeping and storage space and we hope to be able to use it a lot during 2017…

What do you think? Have any of you got some interesting camping set ups? Or maybe camping just isn’t your thing (I understand!)…

Wow, I have trailer envy! We do the pop up tent/awning thing. We got a new inflatable awning a couple of years ago which goes up and down very easily – and no poles which makes it lighter. I’m really enjoying your blog and all your amazing crochet. I’m in the second year of my City & guild in patchwork and quilting now and really enjoying it – it was that NHS leadership course that made me realise I just needed to get on and do something I enjoy!!-not quite what they were aiming for I don’t think!! xx

Hi Jane, so lovely to hear from you and I’m happy that you like my blog! Nothing wrong with the tent/ awning approach but I did fall in love with this little trailer! Patchwork and Quilting course sounds amazing. I’d love to see some of your work too. Do you ever display it?? Ahhh, the leadership course- yes I think I used it more for making personal changes than any changes within the NHS! Stay in touch… xxxx

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My name is Eleonora- I live on the south coast of England with my husband, three fast growing children and a Miniature Schnauzer. Oh how I love to crochet (and anything else yarn or coastal related!) Crochet designing and teaching will be my focus over the coming year...